


I Will Follow You

by Arithanas



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Ghostly encounter, M/M, Post-Canon, ToT: Monster Mash, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-25 22:06:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12542232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithanas/pseuds/Arithanas
Summary: What if James and Thomas have unexpected help in their escape?





	I Will Follow You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [atlanticslide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlanticslide/gifts).



James McGraw was surprised by his own stamina. Thomas Hamilton was a bit behind him, holding his side, utterly exhausted by the long run. Apparently farm work was less demanding than pirate life.

“How are you holding up, Thomas?” James asked, worrying about the barking. The dogs were getting unnervingly closer.

“James, let’s admit we have made an awful mistake.”

His lover's despair made James quiver with dread. After their first hug they had been closely watched. Words were barred. Any touch was illicit. A life where he could see Thomas but never be near him was not enough for James, and he was going to fight to his last breath for a life where they could be close again.

“The mistake was letting you go the first time.” James returned to Thomas’s side. “Lend me your arm. We are going to escape even if I have to carry you on my back.”

“There is no need.” Thomas raised his hand, not to put his arm over James’s shoulders but to stroke his shorn head. “I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth this time.”

“You need to follow me a bit faster,” James replied. The caress hadn’t quelled his anxiety at all.

James caught a flash of light to their right side. His bat-eared days were behind him but hardship had made James observant. There was light, and next to the light a man. He ran toward it, leaving Thomas behind again, to make sure that man was not one of the search party. The speed of James’s reaction was something Thomas was not used to seeing, but to his credit, he stayed quiet and followed. 

James reached for the man’s shoulder and raised his other hand, quickly forming a fist. Thomas was close enough to see how James’s left hand fell, as if he were touching air, and his right hand opened in a startled gesture.

The man—the ghost—turned around and made a signal with his hand, beckoning them to follow. Thomas pulled James by the arm, reluctant to heed the call, but James shrugged and followed the man. They would do better to deal with the dead than to reckon with the living.

They walked through thick fog for some minutes. The distance felt short but the daybreak surprised them both next to a dilapidated farm, reclaimed by nature and covered with woodbine and calico-bush. The ghost was gone, but neither could recall the moment he vanished. 

James extended his hand behind him and Thomas took it gently, as if they were ascertaining the solidity of each other.

“We have found refuge,” James declared in an awed whisper.

“We have been led to it,” Thomas corrected, his fingers pressing hard against James’s. “I almost don’t dare to tread inside.”

“Because we were led in by a ghost?” James turned around and Thomas could see the shadow of his old cynical humor in those tired eyes.

“Because that ghost will demand something from us if we do.”

“Let him name his price,” James said, pulling Thomas closer. “If I could kiss you right now, I would burn England to...”

Thomas didn’t let him finish. They could care about the ghost later. Kissing was of far more importance.

**Author's Note:**

> Edited by [rosefox](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rosefox). This author is grateful by their help.


End file.
